Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit WAV, ALAC, FLAC*, Naim CD188 (supplied by www.naimlabel.com)

Max Raptor – a four piece punk rock band formed in 2006 in Burton upon Trent – has released a clutch of singles and an eight-track mini-album Portraits [Naim label] since touring with The Stranglers in 2010. Mother’s Ruin is the band’s first proper album, released Sept ’13. It’s a full-on, riotous musical assault which will undoubtedly be considered a bone-shaking cacophony to those adverse to the punk genus; but, replete with hard-hitting riffs and air-punching choruses, it is in fact a highly-polished example of its genre. The trouble is, how do you capture the raw energy of a punk band in a recording studio? And alas the production here is wholly unflattering, the sound sibilant and compressed. There’s little point in thinking it’s worth hearing the ‘high-res’ file, so buy it at CD-resolution if you’re a ’Raptor fan eager to wake up your neighbours. JB

Sound Quality: 55%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

This adrenaline-fuelled riot also looks to contain a riot of sample rates including a 48kHz vocal sequence [see Graph above from track 7], guitars sequenced at 24kHz and the entire messy lot mixed up to the 96kHz offered here. PM